World Health Organization on Covid-19: The world has been warned by the World Health Organization (WHO) about the danger of corona on the new year. Pandemic experts of WHO say that a new wave of Coronavirus may come. The new variant of Kovid XBB.1.5 has spread very fast in many cities of America (USA). It has spread to 29 countries and now it is likely to spread to other countries as well.
The experts of WHO said these things in the Global Press Conference. Where on the question of ABP News, an expert also talked about the seriousness of XBB.1.5. He said that XBB.1.5 is spreading rapidly. Although it is not necessary that the wave caused by the new variant will convert the cases into cases of death. He said that surveillance has decreased in the last one month and cases of death due to corona have increased. The WHO expert also termed the data provided by China as insufficient. He says that China should show the correct picture on the number of corona infections and deaths.
‘Omicron sub-variants difficult to track’
Maria Van Karkhova, WHO’s technical lead on Kovid-19, said that the XBB.1.5 sub-variant is a sub-variant of Omicron itself. Although more variants of Corona may be active, because the availability of sequencing has reduced globally. He said, “It is difficult for us to track down the sub-variants of Omicron right now.”
XBB.1.5 has spread to 29 countries so far
He said, “So far the XBB.1.5 sub-variant has spread to 29 countries. Also, so far it has come to the fore that it is spreading very fast. it’s the fastest growing ever corona virus There is a sub-variant, which has run till now. It attaches rapidly to the cell and thus has an advantage for diffusion. We are worried about this.
‘More variants of Corona may also emerge’
He said, “The speed with which XBB.1.5 has expanded in some countries of North America, Europe has left other variants behind.” The WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on the evolution of the virus is monitoring it and in the meeting held on January 3, along with China’s corona infection, XBB.1.5 was also discussed. Our concern is about how contagious it is and can it break immunity? Along with this, there is also a fear that due to the spread of the virus, its more variants may also come to the fore.
He said, “There is a possibility that more waves of corona infection may come in the world. However, it is not necessary that wave is also visible in cases of death due to corona because our measures against corona are working. The Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution is doing a risk assessment on all these variants. We will release it in the next few days.
‘We are keeping an eye on the seriousness of XBB.1.5’
He said, “Right now we do not have much information on the severity and clinical side of XBB.1.5. However, we are closely monitoring it and studying it. Meanwhile, we would like to say that continuous surveillance is necessary on the corona virus all over the world, so that the spreading sub-variant can be detected.
‘Death toll increased by 15 per cent’
He said, “The data reached to WHO would have shown that in the last one month, 1.3 crores, which is a small figure because the surveillance has reduced. But it is a matter of more concern that the death toll has increased by 15 percent during this period. However, this is an undercount because of the delay in reporting of death figures. Also the holiday season was going on. In such a situation, it is very important that the corona virus is constantly monitored so that we can know the spread of the epidemic and can take preventive measures.
BF.5 sub-variant spreading more in China
On the question related to the outbreak of Corona in China, he said, “The data provided by China’s CDC shows that mostly BF.5 sub-variant is spreading more there. However, we still need more sequencing data from China. Also, this information should be shared in the public database, so that it can be analyzed more deeply. More data is expected from China.
WHO officials will meet with Chinese officials
Dr. Mike Ryan, who is associated with the WHO, said, “We had a meeting with China’s high health officials and CDC officials last week. The World Health Organization will hold a meeting with the WHO mission, member countries on January 5 and representatives of China will also be present during this.
Regarding the data on corona infection in China, Dr. Mike Ryan said, “We still do not have complete data on corona infection in China. Along with this, we also have concerns regarding the standards of reporting and recording deaths due to corona. We feel that the scale has been kept too small to define it. We know that there are difficulties in recording data on hospital admissions, releases and ICU admissions in all countries.
‘China’s figures do not tell the reality of infection’
According to Dr. Mike Ryan, “We believe that the figures that are being told by China do not tell the reality of corona infection and do not give correct information about the people admitted to the hospital, patients present in ICU and those who died.” We need data from different regions of China. We have been helped by the sequencing data coming from China.
He said, “There are two lessons from this development. First, if you do not have a better surveillance system and the corona sub-variant is troubling you, then you will be late in understanding the effect of this problem. Also, if you have less vaccine coverage, then the number of sick people will increase. On the other hand, if your health system is not constantly updating, then it will have to struggle when the wave comes. China is a better example to understand this. In the last two years, many countries have gone through different situations. Understanding this is not a rocket science. Corona does damage in this way. If you do not have a good surveillance system, better vaccine coverage and strong preparation of the health system, then it is natural for the problems to increase.
He said, “This applies to all countries in cases of death due to corona, but especially in the context of China, we would like to say that there should be transparency in the definition and reporting of death due to corona.” It is necessary to encourage doctors and nurses for reporting the statistics of death due to corona.
